Perspectives
by RippleIllusion
Summary: She wants to see. She wants him back. In a world full of smiling mysteries she does not understand, she could only cling onto her Papa's shadow in her dreams.
1. Dreams

**A/N:** I'd like to experiment with a format having one-shots combined together in this chapter.

Naruto and all of the characters belong to their own universe. I own only the tangible thoughts I create.

Enjoy.

* * *

*~Chapter 1~*

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_Dreams_

_._

* * *

Sometimes she wonders about the moon and stars and comets and how they all fit into her life.

Mama always told her that shootings star are blessings that Kami bestowed, giving a chance for dreams to finally take wings and materialize, chasing after their own destinies without a mortal mind to restrict them into only an illusion.

And Mama is always right.

So she sits on the rooftop of their house every day, a thin frame against the forceful night wind attempting to drown her, just to watch the stars fade in and out of her vision like Cheshire cats smiling at her and the moon bathing her in its silent comforting presence.

But she never did catch a shooting star.

* * *

On her first day attending the Academy, their sensei wanted to know their minds.

"Please write down what you wish for the most on the yellow piece of paper. As you are all training to become shinobis of your own right, each of you should have your own your dreams and hopes," Aburame-sensei explained behind his stoic expression. "This is an individual assignment; therefore, no discussion would be allowed."

She glanced at the noisy boy sitting at the row in front of her - Boruto, who scrunched up his face at the last sentence and huffed - and turned her eyes back onto the task laid out in front of her. Then she picked up the pencil and rested its point on the top, making the smallest smudge on the pristine, white paper.

But the pencil point didn't move any further.

She stared at the blank page.

The page stared back at her.

The sound of others' pencils scratching on paper was disorienting at least and she couldn't concentrate. How could she form her wish into one coherent idea when she could barely understand it herself?

Finally, in the last 20 seconds before time is up, her wobbly pencil etched out her thoughts, and her own uncertain response wriggled before her eyes, threatening to break out of her grasp.

She could have sworn that when Aburame-sensei collected and glanced over her paper, the corners of her mouth turned up the tiniest bit and he imperceptibly nodded.

She decided that she liked him after all.

* * *

Mama was always tired when she came home from the hospital, but she always put on the sweetest smile for her.

She would always yield to her daughter's request of having a plate of tomatoes cooked with eggs for dinner. That is the child's favorite dish.

Mama never questioned why.

Sometimes she wonders why Mama would buy bags upon bags of tomatoes every week, when they cannot finish them even with her love for the fruit.

But she never asked why.

* * *

They call her Salad.

Salad, they said, would fit the tradition of her maternal side of family being named after plants.

Salad, they commented, had the sound of the beginning syllable of her parents' names.

Salad, they also teased, was made better eating with tomatoes.

But can't they see that she is missing this very component?

* * *

A/N: So what is our dear Salad-chan's dream?

**Sakura and Sasuke coming up soon if a number of constructive reviews of your opinion of this story is reached!** I would like your thoughts on this kind of format. So please **review** if you are genuinely interested in this fic, I would REALLY like to hear feedback from you, **YES YOU RIGHT THERE :) **


	2. Chase

**A/N:** Hi, back with another chapter! A tremendous **THANK YOU** to those who reviewed! Your feedback and encouragement are essential to me.

A little note about Naruto Gaiden...I would just say... I KNEW IT! I actually predicted that Sasuke hasn't seen his daughter since she was born haha :P I thought I was being a lil' too melodramatic, but apparently Kishi beat me to it T.T

Btw, I still think it's sasusaku.

Here are the replies to your reviews!

**kani-leek-lover:** Thank you for the detailed descriptions! Hmm, about the dream...I wonder what it is too? ;) Stay tuned!

**gerza-love:** Thank you and your hopes may come true! :)

**atagirl:** Thank you, very glad to hear that! :)

**Picturis:** Thank you, I appreciate it! :)

_Please Note:_ _This chapter takes place **BEFORE** the events of Gaiden Ch. 1! Don't say you haven't been warned._

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*~Chapter 2~*

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_Chase_

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They said he was like a supernova who gave a brilliant explosion, gleaming in the last minutes of his glory.

But no one witnessed The Last Battle between him and Naruto oji-san where they said he shone his brightest.

He then cooled off into a neutron star, silently, stealthily, retreating from everyone's memories.

And so she could only sketch him, ink him, and paint him within the confines of her own mind.

The framed photo of him was her only comfort.

* * *

She was in the elite.

She was in the elite for everything.

Elite by conversations, elite by how everyone treated her. Elite by her connections with the war heroes and their children, elite by how the street vendor salespeople stared at her. Elite by attention. Elite by sorrow.

And elite by, apparently, how Uzumaki Boruto pestered her.

"Hey Sarada, when'd you get new glasses?"

Teme, she got them two days ago. Hasn't he noticed?

"Hiya, you want to come to my house for dinner? My mom makes really good miso soup."

That would sound nice compared to Mama's cooking. What is she thinking? Mama is taking a rare day off today.

"Yo Sarada, you want to come with me to this epic adventure? It's gonna be so fun rustling up my ol' man!"

No. Getting caught by Shikamaru oji-san is even scarier than getting caught by his oto-san's shadow clone. And it's going to be a desperate, useless attempt that would eventually be scolded for anyway.

She didn't understand why he keeps bothering her even though he acts oh-so-cool in front the rest of the children.

She didn't want to be grouped with the likes of him.

But she knew he was in the elite too.

In the elite group of loneliness.

In the elite group of trying to chase after their oto-sans to catch slight wisps of them, whether it is a memory or a smile,

and finally opening their palms,

only to find them,

_gone._

* * *

They talked behind closed sliding doors so they wouldn't rustle her curiosity.

She overheard it anyway.

Ino oba-chan came to visit the compound. She brought a few bags of flower tea.

She always bring herbal flower tea every time she visits.

Sarada went into the kitchen to prepare the drinks while they talked in the living room.

She carefully filled the fine porcelain cups bearing the Uchiha crest with fresh chrysanthemum tea and placed them onto a blackwood tray.

Her footsteps were quietly muffled by the tatami covered flooring as she walked towards the adjourned room that a sliding door split the two rooms.

A small slit was open, where the voices, soft but still audible, flowed out.

"...she's so young, but I could already see him in her. I swear it's her expression."

She abruptly stopped outside the door, as if there was a red boundary in front of her toes that was never to be crossed.

Mama let out a chuckle. "Hai, the resemblance is close, ne?"

"And the way she crosses her fingers together and rests her face on top of them when she listens intently! Last time I saw that pose in the Academy's class picture album for open house and I burst out laughing, scaring Inojin," Ino oba-chan continued animatedly. "She has your eyes and face shape, though."

She could imagine Mama shooting a wily look towards Ino oba-chan. "I could say that the identity crisis is mutual for Inojin-kun, then."

"He's more of Sai's son than mine. Besides the hair color being orange, I can't really pick out the differences between him and his father. Sai's trying to teach Inojin his techniques. He always says that Inojin's style is too simplistic, and Inojin retorts that Sai's is too old-fashioned to be practical." Oba-chan laughed then stopped midway. "Say, Sakura, don't you think Sarada-chan...is bound to get curious sometime? About...everything?"

Mama sighed softly, a feather dropping onto a pillow.

"She'll know when she is fit to know."

"Sakura." She could hear the determinedness in the woman's voice and imagine her oba-chan with her palms planted on the table, staring into her Mama's eyes with those clear, blue orbs of hers. "Sarada is a smart girl. And she has her father's thirst for knowledge. She's only going to get more curious the longer you keep it from her."

"And what Sasuke and I need now is precisely time. We could only make do with what we have, Ino," Mama spoke firmly.

Sarada saw her fingers gripping tightly to the tray, her knuckles turning into a shade of white. A pale white that reminded her of the egg whites she so often sees in her favorite dish, tomatoes and eggs.

She suddenly felt a sense of nausea wracking her frame.

"And how are you going to keep this together with your 'normal' episodes of fainting in front of her? Is this really the best solution? The herbal tea only subsides your headaches, you know...it doesn't have long term remedial effects. You should go talk to Tsunade-sama."

She heard silence.

Deafening silence.

Then her oba-chan - her dear, _dear_ oba-chan - started speaking hesitantly, carefully, as if treading through a field of explosive tags that the boys in the Academy so love to mention. She's never heard her use that tone before.

"...When is Sasuke coming home?"

A pause.

"As long as it takes," Mama replied softly.

An even longer pause.

Sarada stopped breathing for a moment in time.

She stopped thinking.

So she dropped the tray with a clatter that shattered her mind, bolted to the front door, and ran outside into the open air without her shoes on without thinking that she would get her feet dirty without thinking about ruffling her Uchiha-emblezzled kimono.

She sprinted as fast as she could down the yellow dirt road.

Chasing after the thin, evening air.

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**A/N: **I tried to incorporate Sakura into this plot, but sadly Sasuke wasn't able to make it. Because of the introduction of Gaiden, I have decided that I would see how Kishi plans to flesh this situation out first and follow canon rather than stuffing Sasuke into a who-knows-what situation conjured from my insane imagination :P

Thank you all for reading, and as usual, **reviews are much appreciated!**


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